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2.
Abstract
• Social presence theory seeks to explain how people present
themselves as “real” and being “there” while using a
communication medium. It is a popular construct used to
describe how people socially interact in online courses.
Because of its intuitive appeal and students regular
complaint of feeling isolated and online while taking online
courses, educators have experimented with different ways
to establish social presence in their online courses.
However, to date, very little research has been conducted
on identifying the best way to establish and maintain social
presence in online courses. In this session, I will present the
results of my ongoing research on students perceptions of
the best way to establish and maintain social presence in
online courses.

3.
my Story
• When I started teaching online, I was scared. I was
scared of lots of things . . . (including the dialup
connection I was using). And the funny thing is that I had
taken a couple of courses online prior to teaching online
(something that many first time online instructors haven’t
had the chance to do).
• But one of the things that scared me the most was
whether the things that I thought worked so well when I
taught face to face – like my immediacy, passion, energy,
humor – would translate to the online environment. My
fear is that they wouldn’t. And most of all I feared that I
wouldn’t be able to connect with students. They wouldn’t
get a sense of who I was and I wouldn’t get a sense of
who they were.

4.
Theory of Social Presence
• Social presence is the degree of salience
(i.e., quality or state of being there)
between two communicators using a
communication medium.

7.
Research on Social Presence
Researchers have shown—in varying degrees:
• A relationship between social presence &
student satisfaction
• A relationship between social presence & the
development of a community of learners
• A relationship between social presence &
perceived learning

11.
• Students reported high perceived learning and high satisfaction but
social presence wasn’t as high as research conducted by others
• Students reported that the following helped them the most feel
connected to their instructor: 1. written feedback; 2. one-on-one email;
3. how to screencasts.
• Students reported that the following helped them the most feel
connected to other students: 1. digital stories; 2. previous relationship;
3. access to peers work
• Students reported that Twitter was the least effective with feeling
connected with the instructor and their peers. (M=1.75 on 4.0 scale)
• Follow up interviews revealed different social presence needs;
activities that help are individualized detailed feedback; collaborative /
relevant / authentic group projects; being accessible.
Study #1 Findings

12.
Lowenthal, P. R. (2014, April). Does Video Improve Social Presence?
Investigating Students' Perceptions of Asynchronous Video and
Social Presence. Paper presented at the Emerging Technologies for
Online Learning International Symposium, Dallas, TX.
NOTE: Still collecting data through the summer 2014
RQ: What are students’ perceptions of online video and social
presence?
Two phased exploratory study: Survey students; follow up interviews.
Sample: 12 sections of three different courses
Study #2 Details

13.
• Experienced online learners; high satisfaction and perceived learning
• Report that it’s more important to perceive the instructor as a real
person and there vs. fellow students
• Report video as being better than text and audio at establishing
social presence
• Report that they generally like video; but don’t always like or want
video
• Prefer asynchronous video
• Liked instructional videos the most; then video feedback and video
announcements
• Preferred one-on-one or personal media over group / generic
Study #2 Findings*
*preliminary data; still collecting data

15.
1. How can a cohort model improve social
presence, community, and student
satisfaction?
2. How can we establish and maintain social
presence in large sections?
3. How important is social presence of peers
vs. social presence of instructor?
4. Does social presence help student
learning?
Remaining Questions